My very first daphne bush is coming into flower for its first season, and it’s looking and smelling just grand. It was a cherished gift a year ago, just after flowering apparently, and was a bit puny but showed promise: now it has one central stem about 2’ high with four others coming off it in the lower segment, all flowering and with good sturdiness.
Now, what I want to know is, when it has finished flowering, how should I cut it back to encourage a greater number of branches (and thus, I presume, more flowers) for next season?
It’s currently in a pot, and thriving, but I will move it out into either a bigger one, or perhaps a cushy spot in the garden. Leaving it in a pot has the added advantage of being able to bring it INSIDE during the peak flowering and having its wafting fragrance throughout the house…just delicious. But in the garden it will have the chance to really put down roots, so to speak.
My advice would be to leave it alone. Daphnes are notoriously finicky and the less done to upset them the better. I would only prune dead, diseased, damaged, or crossed branches. Here in the southestern US, this would be done in early spring. They bloom here in mid-January through mid-February. I don’t know how that translates to Australia, but a rule of thumb is a month after blooming just as new leaves are coming out.
If you take it out of the pot and plant it, “bright shade” describes their light needs. In deep shade a daphne will languish but in full sunshine it will fry. Morning sun and afternoon shade are ideal.
Daphnes demand good drainage. They are very susceptible to a disease called Phytophthora, which infects the roots and once they get this crud, there’s no saving them.
Here is an excellent article on how to plant a Daphne with a pretty good chance of keeping it alive. I have planted three over the years - one continues to flourish. It made me feel better when I saw that respected garden consultants put them in the “buy four to keep two” category.
